Political pollster reveals U.S. voters support Redskins team name, deem Cowboys their 'least favorite'

Pollsters who concentrate on politics rarely go into sports issues. Not so Public Policy Polling, a North Carolina-based group that typically concentrates on state and national elections and the proverbial horse race. Their exception is an annual survey of attitudes about the NFL, posed to more than 700 registered voters nationwide.

Among the questions: should the Washington Redskins change their name? Persistent activists and interest groups continue to deem it offensive to American Indians.

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The results: 71 percent of all voters say there’s no need to change the name; 90 percent of Republicans and 59 percent of Democrats agree.

Voters agree, meanwhile, that the Dallas Cowboys are not “America’s team.” Just 23 percent of the respondents felt they deserved the title, the pollster found.

“In a time of unprecedented political division, there’s one thing that Americans can agree on across the board,” says Dean Debham, president of the group. “The Cowboys are not America’s team. In fact, they are the least favorite team.”

The numbers: 23 percent say the Cowboys are their least favorite team - with no one else coming particularly close, he adds. The Bears get 13 percent, Patriots 9 percent, Broncos 8 percent, Steelers 6 percent, and Giants 5 percent.

It is a very good year for the Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning, however. Voters elected him the most popular QB in the NFL.